Water sports such as water skiing, wake boarding, and barefoot skiing require the participant to learn to maintain his or her balance on the surface plane of water while being pulled by a boat. Various devices known in the art, such as booms and boat towers, are used by water sport participants during training and when performing stunts and physical maneuvers.
Booms are attachments which, in the prior art, are attached to the pylon of a boat and/or gunwale (side) of a boat. (A pylon is a pole that extends up from the center of the boat on which a tow rope is attached.)
A boom provides support to a water sport participant, generally during training, allowing the water sport participant to achieve equilibrium and maintain his or her balance on the surface plane of water while the boat is moving. Additionally, the use of a boom alongside the boat, rather than a tow rope attached to the pylon of the boat, allows a water sport participant who is training to position themselves along the side of the boat in order to more easily receive instruction.
A water sport boom is attached to the pylon and/or gunwale of the boat. The boom is positioned across the side, or gunnel, of the boat and extends laterally over the water so that the barefoot skier can grasp the boom and be pulled through the water along the side of the boat. A boom for water skiing is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,921; A further refinement of a traditional, water sport; boom, a powered boom assembly that allows boat personnel to activate a switch to automatically change the position of the boom while the boat is operating and while the skier is using the boom, is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,078.
Attaching a boom to a pylon and/or extending the boom over the gunwale has several limitations. The boom has a single attachment point, and all downward pressure exerted by the skier must be supported at this single point. Moreover, there is no utilization of diagonal or angle forces.
Additionally, this design obstructs passengers in the passenger area of the boat, and causes stress on the gunwale of the boat. Moreover, due to wide variations in pylon and boat designs, it cannot be used on all boats. For example, the V-Drive boom offered by Barefoot International, Inc., according to the manufacturer, can be used only on “V-Drive boats with pylons in the rear that stick up past [the] sundeck at least three inches.” Examples include the New MasterCraft Maristar boats. “Malibu V-Drives prior to 2000 need a pylon extension replacement.”
The widespread use of boat tower attachments since the late 1990s has led to the development of water sport accessories which attach to boat towers.
A tower attachment, as illustrated in U.S. application Ser. No. 11/753,997 (the '997 application), is a vertical structure which extends upward from the rear of the boat and may be used for attaching tow ropes to assist a water sport participant or for mounting accessories such as equipment racks, lighting or speakers.
Virtually every water sport boat manufacturer offers a boat tower as either standard or optional equipment. Boat towers are of varying dimensions and specifications. Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) offer numerous customized towers which correspond to the dimensions of various boat types and models. OEMs also make numerous types of boat towers which they sell directly to boat owners who later want to add a tower to a boat that originally was ordered or manufactured without one. Additionally, many custom towers may have additional, specially positioned support members to increase their stiffness.
Moreover, towers may be constructed from various sizes of tubing, or may be conceivably designed or constructed from non-tubular components. For example, larger diameter tubing may be used by manufactures of both custom and universal adjustable towers to compensate for design limitations and to increase rigidity.
It is desirable to attach structural components, such as horizontal and water sport booms; to boat towers.
It is further desirable to have an adjustable tower extension that can be used with all makes and models of boat towers, and which safely accommodates a wide range of structural variations in custom and universal boat towers, as well as anticipates future design modifications in boat towers.
It is further desirable to reduce manufacturing costs associated with boat tower booms through use of a system that makes mass production practical, making it easier for local dealers to keep boat towers booms in inventory for immediate delivery or installation.
It is further desirable to create a selectively attachable boat tower boom structure that can be easily removed and stored.